The Touching Moment Between Ciri & Yennefer That Was Improvised

Understanding the significance of the snowy sequence, Freya Allan was determined to get it right. So the actor requested ice-skating lessons, hoping it would get her closer to how Ciri is presented on the page. However, Allan revealed that she was doomed to fail from the beginning, especially since the consistency of the "ice" they ended up using for the scene was closer to plastic. This made movement difficult, resulting in one take where she and Anya Chalotra fell on top of each other — one they ultimately used for the episode.

"Freya ends up on top of Anya, and they're laughing, and someone has to roll off, they can't get back up," Lauren Schmidt Hissrich explained. "And it was such a... just a gorgeous, real moment. We ended up putting it in the show." For all intents and purposes, Yennefer is Ciri's mother, and to see them bonding in a moment where nothing is exploding or on fire is a refreshing reprieve from the imminent doom. Audiences get to see not only a classic Ciri trait from the books but the found family that "The WIthcher" is all about.